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August 1, 2006

G105: Cleveland 6, Red Sox 3

Alex Gonzalez's two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the 9th had barely cleared the Wall when every single member of RSN (and probably more than a few Cleveland fans) did the simple arithmetic. If Kevin Youkilis and Mark Loretta both get on, David Ortiz can (will) tie it up.

Not tonight. Youkilis lined out to left and Loretta ended the game trying to bunt for a base hit. With Cleveland getting to Jason Johnson (5.2-9-3-2-3, 95) in the first inning and Craig Hansen (1.1-3-2-0-1, 25) in the seventh, CC Sabathia (8-10-1-1-8, 111) cruised to victory in the Boston humidity.

Typing up jaw-dropping stuff about David Ortiz and looking back at my scorecards from the past 3+ years this afternoon, all I really want to do is babble about the Big Man. I think I finally understand the hypnotic allure of cult leaders; Ortiz could get me to do just about anything at this point.

But there were other heroes last night. Tops among them was Kyle Synder (4.1-1-0-0-6), who may have found his proper place on the staff. ... Wily Mo Pena started in right field and drove in three runs with a single, triple and a loooong home run to left. ... Manny Ramirez, who hit his 28th home run in the first inning last night, has hit in 16 straight games, the longest streak of his Red Sox career. And he's 8-for-14 (.571) with four home runs and seven RBIs against tonight's opponent, Sabathia.

Alright, more Tizzle: He hit 14 home runs in July, tying Jackie Jensen (14 in June 1958) for the most in one month. ... He is the first Red Sock to have 105 RBI by the end of July (Ted Williams and Vern Stephens each had 104 in 1949). ... He and Ramirez have homered in the same game 12 times this season, tying the team record they set in 2004. ... And finally, in 161 games since July 31, 2005, the Big Man has 60 homers and 166 RBI.

6 comments:

Awesome stats on Papi. I was going to look this stuff up myself tonight. Now I don't have to. I really hope Snyder can perform some meaningful middle inning relief for the Sox. You can see how bad the long relief is when Tito sticks w/ Schill despite three homeruns in an inning and Boomer getting blasted just to avoid bringing the bullpen in the game in the fourth inning. Somebody to bolster the bullpen's long term relief and Wily Mo making us forget about Trot's annual trip to the DL and I think the Sox will be alright despite a lack of consitancy at the back end of the rotation.

For game discussion: I tend to hang out at Surviving Grady. The game thread is in the comments to the posts. They sometimes get off on tangents, but there is always a good solid group there and they can be dragged back ot game discussion with a little prodding. (Not that I've ever done it, mind you: I just lurk.) There was even one memorable game early on in this season (or maybe it was the preseason) in which two of the commenters did a play-by-play for those who were blacked out. Good stuff.